Conceptual Design and Initial Experiments on Cable Inspection Robotic System

Cables are the most important parts of cable-stayed bridges. Safety of the cables on a bridge is among the most important public concerns. This paper proposes a wheel-based cable inspection robotic system, which is able to climb up and down the cables to detect cable defections of a bridge. The robotic system is consisted of three modules equally spaced circularly, which are joined together by six connecting boards to form a closed hexagonal body for clasping a cable. Each module consists of two wheels for climbing, one CCD camera for visual inspection, 2 pairs of actuating permanent magnets and 5 Holl sensors for the detection magnetic flux leakage. The kinematics and the statics of the robot were detailedly analyzed. And the principle of detection cable defections through magnetic flux leakage was also discussed.

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